Recently, robots that can realize different motions are widely used. In these robots, different motions can be realized by replacement of control software for controlling the robots. In an “AIBO” by Sony, which is a trademark of Sony, for example, different motions of the robot are enabled by equipping the robot with an external memory including an extension program. In a lot of robots at present, control software that fully matches hardware configurations of the robots is included. In the robot that has only arms and feet, for example, control software for controlling the motions of the arms and the feet is combined for use, and control software that controls the motions of the arms and a head is not employed for combination.
Various types of control software for the robot are made. In amusement-oriented robots such as so-called pet-type robots in particular, there are considerable needs for executing control software by using an arbitrary robot, even if the control software does not always match the hardware of the robot. By way of such an example, a case can be pointed out where, in order to get pleasure from motions of the arms alone, the control software for controlling the motions of the arms and the foot is executed by using a robot without foot.
A publication (JP Patent Kokai JP-P2000-267852A), for example, discloses a robot of which the shape can be altered by replacement of a part. In this robot, installed parts are detected, and for each shape obtained by part replacement, information on the result of part detection is held in information holding means. Then, based on the result of comparison between the result of part detection associated with a current shape and the information held in the information holding means, software is altered according to the shape. In an invention described in this publication, a configuration of the control software is altered so as to match the hardware configuration of the robot. The control software is so configured that software components for the arms, feet, and head are included to accommodate any one of the combinations of the arms and the feet, the arms and the head, and the foot and the arms. By reading the hardware configuration of the robot, software components thereof can be reconfigured and then assembled into a collection of required software components.